Basel LFSB

Contact Flugschule Basel, they handle everything so they can tell you about all options and give you the best price: https://www.fsb.aero/kontakt. But Basel is expensive, could be up to 200 EUR for a PA28 landing.

Yes, Mulhouse LFGB works well. Of course it isn‘t inherently unsafe to park an aircraft there. It’s central Europe.

If you want to get to Basel, you can walk 10-15 minutes to the closest train station, and take a short train to Basel SBB. Works well.

But Mulhouse isn‘t a point of entry, so you will have to that somewhere else.

My experience with Basel.

I called GAC and asked for a quote, handling would be CHF40. A few days later, I saw I’d need PPR from the airport itself so I wrote to GAC and asked about this, whether they would be taking care of it. No response, so I contacted the airport directly who said that as I was only intending dropping off my friend and departing immediately, I wouldn’t need handling, I could expect parking on Stands 40 – 48.

So, landed, using runway 25 as it was blowing a hoolie from 250° and taxied to the stand. Went to the terminal to use the bathroom and then wanted to access my plane. I’d completed all the paperwork in advance, giving them an address etc to send the invoice, filled out the passenger manifest to allow me to return to my plane, had my licence, AOPA card and ID with me and went to the crew gate, near to oversized luggage.

Knowing others had been turned away, when I approached the gate, the staff there turned me away. I showed them the passenger manifest and was once more turned away. I tried in my best franglais to explain that I was wanting to return to my aircraft.

They then allowed me to proceed through the scanner and then called what I presume was a senior member of staff was who started demanding my CIME Carte. I said “I don’t have one, as I’m not french. Here is my pilots licence, my AOPA crew card and my ID, I would like to return to my aircraft, please”.

C’est ne pas possible. You ’ave to ’ave ze Carte CIME.

I pointed out that this was only if I wanted access to the secure area without an escort and this was never going to happen – indeed, I was paying €23 for the “privilege” of a marshaller to bring me back to my aircraft. Once more she was adamant – you need a Carte CIME.

Again, I pointed out that I am NOT going to unescorted into the security area but someone – the marshaller – would take me back to my aircraft.

‘Alors, ’e is not part of security.’

“But he has security clearance. He can escort me back to my aircraft”.

“Monsieur, ‘e is not part of security, you need a Carte CIME’.

“So how do I get one NOW as I have a flight plan filed?’

“Je ne sais pas.”

Then someone else came over and slapped a piece of paper on the table. In french. And sent me back through the scanner to where a table is in the darkest corner of the room. I came back, told them it was too dark to read there and proceeded to complete it whilst leaning against the stack of trays for security check. I completed it as best as I could. I then went to walk through the scanner – they’d been watching me these past 5 minutes – but no, I had to empty my pockets, put everything through the X Ray and go through the scanner again…. I guess I can be fortunate I didn’t need to take my shoes off.

On the form, I completed as much as I could understand, left things like “ecole du vol” empty and handed it over. This created more consternation as I needed to indicate which flying school I was using. I tried to point out that once more, I was NOT a student, I was NOT asking to go airside with an instructor, I wanted to return to MY plane.

They then called a 3rd person over who looked at my licence, my ID and my passenger manifest and to my utter relief, finally said to them: “all is ok, now call for a navette to take him back to his plane”.

In total, it took more than 30 minutes to clear security and just confirms that you really get the biggest idiots in airport security. The question is, are private pilots so rare in Basel that they are clueless in security when one turns up in his plane?

It also reminds me of passing through the GA terminal in Bratislava and a security guy found my trusty Swiss Army knife and told me he was confiscating it because it is illegal. I pointed out to him that I was alone in the plane, and the pilot. Did he honestly believe that I would hold the knife up to my own throat and then exclaim: “this is a hijacking, take me to Cuba….”

He went bright red and allowed me to keep it….

Unless guided by some masochistic instincts, those big airports are to be avoided like the plague, period.
And that also guided my airplane of choice, capable of operating off short grass or whatever field, and running on Mogas.

I have some 973 take-offs/landings at LFSB, of those only a couple in the light stuff category. Now thanks to my e-logbook, I can read that my last visit in a SEP dates 10/08/1994, and the notes taken on that day read: Expensive ld fee. (Problems getting out due no IDs!)
If memory serves me right, I paid CHF65.- total (sans fuel) on that day.

So, no real positive change then…

@Steve6443 this is what many of us have been afraid of here. France were told off big time by the EU for allowing GA pilots going to and from their planes by just showing their pilot’s licence and photo identity at the larger airports, and even wearing yellow vests if need be. But the EU decided we all needed security training and a special identity card.
And what do security do. They overreact. Airport security and common sense are alien beings.

@Steve6443: I’m sorry to hear about your bad experience. Maybe the GAC would have been the ‘better’ option after all… At least with the price list you posted on the other topic, which was way better, compared to the quotes I received in January.

Steve6443 wrote:

The question is, are private pilots so rare in Basel that they are clueless in security when one turns up in his plane?

There is pretty much GA activity in the “customs limit” zone, which is the Swiss sector. Not only the GAC, but especially both local flight school and aeroclub are located there. They offer actually a pretty decent price-performance ratio for charter planes, which even attracts pilots from Zurich to fly in Basel, and LFSB doesn’t require VFR slots like LSZH. As written in the other topic, the GAC is however defacto Switzerland, so you need to deal with customs forms etc upon entering or leaving Switzerland via LFSB. Therefore, ATC is for sure used to GA, but after reading your message, the airport company/personnel itself isn’t. Business GA will for sure use handlers like Jet Aviation, with their own buildings and apron.

Your experience means however that French GA is almost non-existent at LFSB. Almost all GA activity they have, use the Swiss sector.

gallois wrote:

And what do security do. They overreact. Airport security and common sense are alien beings.

To be fair, the people there are just doing what they have been trained to do. They want to keep feeding their children, so they don’t take chances with their jobs.

But surely they should have at least one brain cell otherwise they can be replaced by machine even without AI.
It reminds me of buying an 5 electric extension leads in a supermarket here. One didn’t work, but the only way of finding.that out was to open the packet and try it..But when we took it back the woman on the returns desk challenged my wife on how she knew it wasn’t working then refused to change it because instead of cutting the package open neatly, for lack of handy scissors we had torn it open.
My wife did her Rottweiler impression and security was called, and after a bit more growling and a growing crowd, the manager was called.. My wife explained the problem. He went into the store, came back with a new extension, carefully cut open the packet, put the nonworking extension in the new packet and the new extension in our old packet , he then smiled and everyone was happy. Except for the woman on the returns desk who just sulked without an apology.
Without a touch of common sense people are just empty headed machines with inflexible and training is just bad software.

Frans wrote:

Your experience means however that French GA is almost non-existent at LFSB. Almost all GA activity they have, use the Swiss sector.

French go to Mulhouse or Montbeliard to fly, much smaller / easier (in a sense of “no handling”) / cheaper airfields.

@Archer-181:
Alternatively you can also try Colmar LFGA, Freiburg EDTF (both are points of entry as far as I know) or Bremgarten EDTG. All are a short cab ride away from a train station which will bring you to Basel. If you phone them all you might be able to find a hangar for the 2 weeks.

Hope this helps :) let me know if you need more info. Although I am a bit disconnected from the local GA scene nowadays, I spent the first 34 years of my life in this region.